Starting Over
by Stelena-Beautiful
Summary: It has been two years since Stefan and Elena lost each other but they are back together now. However, have they changed too much in their time apart to make things work between them again? A little futuristic Stelena ficlet I came up with last night. Hopefully its worth the read.


**Starting Over**

This is my first Stelena one shot based on P!nk's song "Just Give Me a Reason". I realize others have written Stelena fics based on this ballad (because let's face it, this is a total SE song!) and have done it much better than I could but last night I was listening to the song for hours and came up with this short piece. I heard that P!nk said she wrote this song because she believed that in relationships one person always loved the other more. I don't agree with that sentiment when it comes to Stelena. They always loved each other equally, flawlessly, and hopefully one day they can get back to what's right – _**being together! **_Now here we go.

* * *

_Right from the start_

_You were a thief_

_You stole my heart_

_And I your willing victim_

_I let you see the parts of me_

_That weren't all that pretty_

_And with every touch you fixed them_

Elena had known from the moment she saw him. The moment she first looked into those beautiful forest green eyes of his. That she belonged to him, she belonged with him - forever. She had once honestly believed that nothing could ever rip them apart but somehow life had tried to breaking them down. Death, destruction and fear had torn them away from each other for a time. For a long while, they were apart. Two whole years in fact, which was a lifetime, even to vampires, when you were away from the one you loved with all your soul. And she did, she loved Stefan with everything in her, everything she ever was and would be.

_Now you've been talking in your sleep, oh, oh_

_Things you never say to me, oh, oh_

_Tell me that you've had enough_

_Of our love, our love_

And yet, she worried. She _wondered,_ as she listened to him talking in his sleep beside her. He whispered her name in a soft, lilting voice_. "Elena…"_

She gingerly reached out and put her hand on his bare back, feeling the soft, warm, familiar skin under her fingertips. What was he dreaming about? What was he thinking? Were there things he was afraid to say to her in their waking hours? Did he think they had rushed back into this all too soon? Two years was a long time; they had both changed, and she'd only just broken up with Damon a short while ago. A little while ago when she finally realized how utterly stupid she had been, how stubborn, to push away Stefan, the very best person she'd ever known. Was he regretting _them? _

_Just give me a reason_

_Just a little bit's enough_

_Just a second we're not broken just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

_It's in the stars_

_It's been written in the scars on our hearts_

_We're not broken just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

He stirred at her touch and rolled over to face her, watching her face in the semi-darkness. He offered her a brilliant smile and she felt tears come to her eyes. How she loved that smile and how she feared that it would not always be directed at her.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he reached out and stroked her cheek with his calloused yet also impossibly gentle fingertips. "Talk to me, Elena, please."

Her tears overflowed and ran down her face. He tried wiping them away one by one but it was an impossible task. They just came too fast. "Elena?"

_I'm sorry I don't understand_

_Where all of this is coming from_

_I thought that we were fine_

_(Oh, we had everything)_

_Your head is running wild again_

_My dear we still have everythin'_

_And it's all in your mind_

_(Yeah, but this is happenin')_

"I am sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I can never really make up for all of the cruel things I said and did while we were apart. How can you look at me and not see your brother?"

"Do you want me to look at you and see Damon?"

"No, of course not."

"Good, because I don't. I just see the beautiful, amazing woman I have loved seemingly forever."

"Maybe you'll regret this someday, regret me …"

"Where is this coming from?" He asked.

"I guess I am scared… I hurt you so bad, I told you that I couldn't love you anymore…"

He ran his fingers through her long locks of hair. "Regret you, Elena? Impossible. And for the record, I wasn't innocent in any of this. We both hurt _each other._ Every single time I turned off my humanity, I treated you like, frankly, _crap._ And you fought for me so hard until you must have felt like it was a hopeless cause."

"You were never hopeless. It's just … we rushed back together, Stefan. We fell right into bed just like old times and it's amazing but we're different now and we haven't really dealt with the many things that tore us apart in the first place. I am worried we're destined to repeat the same mistakes if we don't address them outright."

"Now you're worrying _me…"_

"Can we really start over when we've never really dealt with the past, Stefan? The ways I hurt you –"

"The way we hurt each other," he said again gently.

"There's gotta be moments you hate me."

_You've been havin' real bad dreams, oh, oh_

_You used to lie so close to me, oh, oh_

_There's nothing more than empty sheets_

_Between our love, our love_

_Oh, our love, our love_

"Never, ever. Please stop doubting yourself, and doubting us. The only thing between us now is the space between our bodies... Unless you are trying to tell me you want out of this?"

"No way," she said, taking his hand in hers. "I just don't want to bury our past either, pretend it didn't happen. It shaped exactly who we are now. We might just have to start over from scratch."

Stefan nodded. "I can do that, Elena. Just know that we're not broken, we never were. We got a little bent I guess you might say, and we got very lost, but we were never totally decimated because we loved each other deep down, always."

Elena nodded. "Thanks for that and for loving me better than anyone ever has."

"You have done the same for me," he said and traced her plump lips with his finger, causing her to shiver. "I guess there's only one thing left to do."

"What's that?"

"Start over from this moment on like you said… Learn each other all over and embrace the people we have become … Let me ask you something."

"Anything."

"Can I take you on a date? A real date? That will be the beginning of our new start. We'll figure out where we go from there."

_Oh, we can learn to love again_

_Oh, we can learn to love again_

_Oh, oh, that we're not broken just bent_

_And we can learn to love again_

Elena smiled. "I'd love to go on a date with you, Stefan. I'd love it more than words can say."

"Thank you for being mine, Elena Gilbert."

She hugged him tightly. "I always was, Stefan Salvatore."

FIN.


End file.
